DUNEDIN, a city of New Zealand, capital of the provincial district of Otago, and the seat of a bishop, in Taieri county. Pop. (census of 1926) 85,197. It lies i 5 m. from the open sea, at the head of Otago harbour, a narrow inlet on the south-eastern coast of South island.
The colony of Otago (from a native word meaning ochre, which was found here and highly prized by the Maoris) was founded as the chief town of the Otago settlement by settlers sent out under the auspices of the Free Church of Scotland in 1848. The discovery of large quantities of gold in Otago in 1861 and the following years brought prosperity, a great "rush" of diggers set ting in from Australia.
The situation was chosen on the consideration of this harbour alone, for the actual site offered many difficulties, steep f orest clad hills rising close to the sea, and rendering reclamation neces sary. The hills give the town a beautiful appearance, as the forest was allowed to remain closely embracing it, being preserved in the public ground named the Town Belt. The principal thor oughfare is comprised in Prince's street and George street, run ning straight from south-west to north-east and passing through the Octagon, which is surrounded by several of the principal build ings. From these streets others strike at right angles down to the harbour, while others lead obliquely up towards the Belt, be yond which are extensive suburbs. The town hall, Athenaeum and museum are noteworthy buildings, the last having a fine biological collection. The Otago university at Dunedin is a constituent college of the University of New Zealand with 51 professors and lecturers. The college was founded in 1869. The white Oamaru stone is commonly used in the buildings. Besides the Belt there are several parks and reserves.
Dunedin is connected by rail with Christchurch northward and Invercargill southward, with numerous branches. The depth of the channel to Port Chalmers (9 m. N.E. of Dunedin by rail) is 3o feet, at Dunedin itself the harbour has a depth from 18 to 24 feet and can accommodate vessels up to 221 ft. draught. The exports include gold (procured by dredging), wool, dairy produce, frozen meat : the imports are coal, timber and manufactured goods.